Gunning for Another … Austin Hill comes to a “home track” of sorts looking add another superspeedway victory to his resume on Saturday afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway (TSS). The driver of the No. 16 United Rentals Toyota Tundra takes on the largest speedway in the world in search for his second superspeedway win, just a mere hour drive from his hometown of Winston, Ga. Hill’s first-career Camping World Truck Series victory came in thrilling fashion at Daytona International Speedway (DIS) in 2019 and a repeat performance would net the No. 16 team a berth into the owner points championship finale at Phoenix Raceway.
Superspeedway Skills … Superspeedway racing is an acquired skill and Hill has applied himself effectively in the discipline from the early stages of his career. Aside from his Daytona victory, he has been a consistent performer at the largest tracks on the schedule, as evidenced by three top-10 finishes in five starts with HRE at TSS and DIS. He has led laps in the last three Camping World Trucks events at ‘Dega and scored a stage win last October. Hill has a knack for running at the front of the field and has led laps in five of the last six superspeedway races, dating back to October 2018 at TSS.
Season to Date … Three races remain in the 2021 Camping World Trucks campaign and Hill has the No. 16 team in the thick of the owner points championship battle. While Hill resides 10th in the drivers’ championship standings, he has the No. 16 team fourth in the owner points standings with a 15-point cushion on the cut line with two races remaining in the second round. Hill and the United Rentals team are in pursuit of HRE’s second owners’ title and will need a fortuitous afternoon at the notoriously unpredictable superspeedway.
Chassis Selection … Chassis No. 002 returns to action on Saturday for the first time since 2019. Hill drove this Toyota Tundra to his first-career victory at DIS in February of that season and finished sixth at TSS later that fall. This Tundra served as Hill’s backup the last two seasons at the “World Center of Racing”.
Tune In … NASCAR Raceday begins FOX Sports 1’s coverage on Saturday at Noon E.T., followed by the green flag at 1:00 p.m. ET. Stay connected with the No. 16 United Rentals team by following @Hattori_Racing on Twitter, @hattoriracing on Instagram, and Hattori Racing Enterprises on Facebook.
Austin Hill Quote:On superspeedway racing:“You never know what to expect with superspeedway racing. Sometimes it’s chaos right from the start, and other times there can be some lulls with single file drafting just to get to the end. But you have to be smart to make it to the final few laps to be in the mix, so hopefully we can position our United Rentals Toyota Tundra near the front at the end to have a shot at it. We’ve gotten caught up in wrecks the last two superspeedway races, but we’ve always had a lot of speed over the past three years at Daytona and Talladega. We’d love to get into the owner points finale with a win. We just need to position ourselves for the final few laps and put the right run together at the right time to make it happen.”
HRE PR
